Team Player
Laurie Nosbusch
UW sophomore Laurie Nosbusch wasted little time making an impact on the UW women’s soccer program. In her 2008 freshman season, she secured a starting spot at forward, led the team in scoring with twenty-one points, and was named to the Great Lakes Region All-Freshman team.
She’s also notching her place on another Badger team. Father Keith ’74 and brother David ’08 are both graduates of UW-Madison’s electrical engineering department, and mother Jane ’76 and sister Carolyn ’06 earned degrees from the School of Nursing. But Laurie is breaking (slightly) new ground with a tentative pre-med and Spanish double major. “I’m choosing a different major, since they’ve apparently paired off,” she says with a laugh.
Before arriving on campus, the Mequon, Wisconsin, native honed her soccer skills with the highly competitive FC Milwaukee club program and as a member of the U.S. under-eighteen national team, an experience Nosbusch says she will never forget. “As far as proudest achievements,” she says, “that would have to be it. Putting on a U.S. jersey was really something special.”
Heading into last season, the Badger women had not had a winning record in two years, and Nosbusch knew it would be a rebuilding year. While the Badgers fell just short of a winning record, she helped lead the young team to an improved 9-9-1 overall record and to within one victory of qualifying for the Big Ten tournament, a main goal for the team as it prepares for the 2009 campaign.
“The core from [last] year’s team was young,” says Nosbusch, who was one of thirteen freshmen on the 2008 team, “but we’re on the upswing now. We’ll add the incoming freshmen to our moving train soon, and our goals are only getting bigger and bigger from here on out.”
Ben Wischnewski ’05
She’s also notching her place on another Badger team. Father Keith ’74 and brother David ’08 are both graduates of UW-Madison’s electrical engineering department, and mother Jane ’76 and sister Carolyn ’06 earned degrees from the School of Nursing. But Laurie is breaking (slightly) new ground with a tentative pre-med and Spanish double major. “I’m choosing a different major, since they’ve apparently paired off,” she says with a laugh.
Before arriving on campus, the Mequon, Wisconsin, native honed her soccer skills with the highly competitive FC Milwaukee club program and as a member of the U.S. under-eighteen national team, an experience Nosbusch says she will never forget. “As far as proudest achievements,” she says, “that would have to be it. Putting on a U.S. jersey was really something special.”
Heading into last season, the Badger women had not had a winning record in two years, and Nosbusch knew it would be a rebuilding year. While the Badgers fell just short of a winning record, she helped lead the young team to an improved 9-9-1 overall record and to within one victory of qualifying for the Big Ten tournament, a main goal for the team as it prepares for the 2009 campaign.
“The core from [last] year’s team was young,” says Nosbusch, who was one of thirteen freshmen on the 2008 team, “but we’re on the upswing now. We’ll add the incoming freshmen to our moving train soon, and our goals are only getting bigger and bigger from here on out.”
Ben Wischnewski ’05
Badger Sports Ticker
The Badger women’s hockey team continues to score honors. After the squad won the 2009 national championship — its third in four years — senior goalie Jesse Vetter was named the tournament’s most outstanding player and received the Patty Kazmaier Award for the best player in collegiate women’s ice hockey. Coach Mark Johnson ’94 was named the American Hockey Coaches Association division I collegiate coach of the year.
Junior runner Craig Miller took second place in the mile at the NCAA national indoor track and field meet. His time of 4 minutes, 1.34 seconds was the best-ever finish by a Badger.
Badger football has a new top administrator. Brad Pendergrass is the athletic department’s new director of football operations. He joined Badger nation in February and formerly held the same position at Mississippi State University. The director of football operations is responsible for all the team’s off-the-field needs, including coordinating travel and planning team meals. Pendergrass succeeds Bill Nayes ’94, who now works for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
The UW’s equestrian team finished ninth at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national championship in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The team is part of the Union’s Hoofers organization.
Junior runner Craig Miller took second place in the mile at the NCAA national indoor track and field meet. His time of 4 minutes, 1.34 seconds was the best-ever finish by a Badger.
Badger football has a new top administrator. Brad Pendergrass is the athletic department’s new director of football operations. He joined Badger nation in February and formerly held the same position at Mississippi State University. The director of football operations is responsible for all the team’s off-the-field needs, including coordinating travel and planning team meals. Pendergrass succeeds Bill Nayes ’94, who now works for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
The UW’s equestrian team finished ninth at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national championship in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The team is part of the Union’s Hoofers organization.
Behind the Greens
Anyone who has watched a golf course go from crispy to lush knows it takes more than Mother Nature to keep greens green.
With its variable climate, Wisconsin isn’t kind to turfgrass. Big swings in spring moisture make life difficult for those who tend turf. “It’s not until things are growing that we can fully assess the toll that winter has taken on the course,” says Aron Hogden, superintendent at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison. “In early spring, we make plans to remedy any winter damage and get the course ready for play.”
Hogden oversees a full-time staff of five and a seasonal staff of twenty, including many UW students and retirees who tend to a recently expanded 7,259-yard course, a 33-acre practice facility for Badger golf teams, and a 60-acre cross-country course. “As soon as the seed is sown, we take responsibility for bringing it in,” Hogden says. “We create a surface that’s worth playing on.”
His own route to the job was fairly typical. Hogden started working on a golf course as a young man, loved it, and decided to make it his career. He studied turfgrass science at Ohio State — others enter the field with degrees in soil science, horticulture, agronomy, or plant pathology. “Because of the image of the greenskeeper with a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth and a pair of bib [overalls] on,” Hogden says, “there’s a real focus on promoting professionalism in this industry.”
The University Ridge staff works with an active team of UW-Madison researchers, including Doug Soldat from soil science; John Stier, horticulture; Chris Williamson, entomology; and Jim Kerns, plant pathology. “But hopefully not too often,” Hogden says, “because there’s usually a problem when we’re dealing with them.” The golf course also has a good relationship with the UW’s O.J. Noer Turfgrass Research and Education Facility. Located two miles away, Noer’s researchers compare turfgrass varieties, mowing practices, equipment, and strategies for fertilizer, irrigation, and pest management. In acreage, turfgrass is Wisconsin’s fifth biggest crop. “We try to provide them with an opportunity to do research on a live golf course,” Hogden says.
The course is open from April through October, but the greens-keeping crew works continually to enhance the land and reduce impact and water use. They recently committed to completing a five-year prairie restoration project and are in the process of earning certification from the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
University Ridge’s expansion has improved the site’s marketability among student athletes and the general public. Wisconsin hosts the women’s Big Ten tournament in 2010, and hopes the course will attract other major NCAA and PGA tournaments.
Karen Roach ’82
With its variable climate, Wisconsin isn’t kind to turfgrass. Big swings in spring moisture make life difficult for those who tend turf. “It’s not until things are growing that we can fully assess the toll that winter has taken on the course,” says Aron Hogden, superintendent at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison. “In early spring, we make plans to remedy any winter damage and get the course ready for play.”
Hogden oversees a full-time staff of five and a seasonal staff of twenty, including many UW students and retirees who tend to a recently expanded 7,259-yard course, a 33-acre practice facility for Badger golf teams, and a 60-acre cross-country course. “As soon as the seed is sown, we take responsibility for bringing it in,” Hogden says. “We create a surface that’s worth playing on.”
His own route to the job was fairly typical. Hogden started working on a golf course as a young man, loved it, and decided to make it his career. He studied turfgrass science at Ohio State — others enter the field with degrees in soil science, horticulture, agronomy, or plant pathology. “Because of the image of the greenskeeper with a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth and a pair of bib [overalls] on,” Hogden says, “there’s a real focus on promoting professionalism in this industry.”
The University Ridge staff works with an active team of UW-Madison researchers, including Doug Soldat from soil science; John Stier, horticulture; Chris Williamson, entomology; and Jim Kerns, plant pathology. “But hopefully not too often,” Hogden says, “because there’s usually a problem when we’re dealing with them.” The golf course also has a good relationship with the UW’s O.J. Noer Turfgrass Research and Education Facility. Located two miles away, Noer’s researchers compare turfgrass varieties, mowing practices, equipment, and strategies for fertilizer, irrigation, and pest management. In acreage, turfgrass is Wisconsin’s fifth biggest crop. “We try to provide them with an opportunity to do research on a live golf course,” Hogden says.
The course is open from April through October, but the greens-keeping crew works continually to enhance the land and reduce impact and water use. They recently committed to completing a five-year prairie restoration project and are in the process of earning certification from the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
University Ridge’s expansion has improved the site’s marketability among student athletes and the general public. Wisconsin hosts the women’s Big Ten tournament in 2010, and hopes the course will attract other major NCAA and PGA tournaments.
Karen Roach ’82
